Moran Responds to Cut of Planned Parenthood Funds

On Tuesday, the Susan G. Komen Foundation For The Cure cut its funding for Planned Parenthood. The money had supplied breast exams for 170,000 women over the past five years.

The founder of the foundation cited changes in priorities and policies, and says the money will be put elsewhere to benefit a larger number of women. However, some say the decision was political, and the foundation was pressured by right-leaning organizations who disapprove of Planned Parenthood’s abortion services.

Just today, The Atlantic reported that a top official at Komen resigned in protest over the dust up.

Congressman Jim Moran (D-Va.) released the following statement following Komen’s decision to pull funding for Planned Parenthood:

The Komen Foundation’s decision regarding Planned Parenthood is deeply troubling. As an organization dedicated to eradicating breast cancer, it’s hard to understand how eliminating funding that provides hundreds of thousands of women with preventive screenings is in anyone’s best interest.

I call on the Foundation to reverse their decision and not let politics interfere with protecting women’s health.

Maybe they don’t want to be associated with baby killers? Who knows if the person who would have found a cure for breast cancer or a better treatment wasn’t aborted? Or won’t be aborted in the future?

nunya

abortion is legal and has been since 1973.

if you don’t want an abortion, don’t get one.

novasteve

And if you don’t like smoking in bars, don’t enter a smoking bar, but you libs still banned it. And abortion was legal in places before 1973, you obviously don’t understand constitutional law and the states and police powers.

nunya

i don’t like smoking in bars and don’t patronize bars that allow smoking. it’s that easy.

you clearly can’t accept a law that’s been in the books for 40 years.

if you have a beef with the laws of the US talk to the Supreme Court.

calling women who go thru an emotionally wrenching decision to have an abortion baby killers is pretty cruel and insensitive.

Josh S

I suspect that you and I are on the same page, politically. But if you’re going to get into an argument with a troll such as steve, you can’t give him anything with which to sidestep the main issue.

The Supreme Court did not make any laws. They never have, they never will. That’s not their function. Congress makes laws the affect the entire nation, state legislatures make laws that affect individual states.

In 1973, the Supreme Court made a ruling that the outright banning of abortion, without any conditions, was unconstitutional. So the most restrictive laws that had been passed by various state legislatures were effectively made null and void. States are still free to restrict abortion.

In the way that you are using it, there is no law that has been “in the books for 40 years.”

As far as I know, abortion laws are all state laws. So if you had a “beef” with a state law, you’d likely first bring suit in a state court. Your suit may or may not (probably not) make it to the Supreme Court.

jan

There are bars that allow smoking?

Zoning Victim

Yes, Virginia allows bars to have a smoking area as long as it’s completely separate from the non-smoking part, has a completely separate ventilation/HVAC system and isn’t situated so that you have to walk through the smoking side to get to the non-smoking side. The only place I know of that is setup like that is Summers.

I think…

Bailey’s in Crystal City is also designed this way I believe, but I could be wrong.

drax

Upstairs at the Hard Times in Clarendon.

John B

Bailey’s in Ballston and Crystal City also allow smoking. As does Crystal City Restaurant.

drax

If you want to smoke, smoke all you want – just not in my face in a bar where I have to breathe it, genius.

Jason S.

You have to go to a bar?

novasteve

So why do I have to hear loud music ? Why can’t it be banned instead of me having to avoid places with loud music so I don’t lose any more hearing?

drax

Ear plugs. Done.

novasteve

But then i won’t be able to hear conversation. Shouldn’t the loud music just get banned? Why should I have to act like an adult and choose to avoid loud places? Why can’t the government do it for me?

Bluemontsince1961

Nice try.

drax

Ear plugs and sign language.

Done.

brif

You are perfectly free to support getting that ban enacted.

Novanglus

Sure abortions are legal, but if a private organization doesn’t want to give money to an organization that provides them, they don’t have to. And if we don’t want to support Komen because of their decision, we don’t have to.

I stopped supporting Komen long ago because of their ridiculously high O&A expenses. They siphon donations away from groups that actually might help cure cancer.

nunya

what orgs have you been donating to instead?

Dawn

If you wish to support breast cancer research specifically, may I suggest Army of Women / Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation. I checked them out on the suggestion of a friend and it appears that their administrative costs are a quite small percentage.

j

exactly. chirp goes the crickets

j

I feel the same way. If I had women parts, and someone told me what to do with them, I’d punch’em in the face.

Novasteve is not smart. And rather annoying.

MomOfTeens

+1000

esmith69

Well if we lived by your standards, we’d have hundreds of thousands of unwanted babies born to unwilling parents, and those unwilling parents probably won’t put too much effort into raising their unwanted children.

As a result, the unwanted children grow up living a life of crime/poverty, which in the end affects us all (both socially and monetarily). Read “freakonomics” for a better explanation.

Somehow you don’t strike me as the type too eager for MORE of taxpayers’ money to go towards fighting crime/poverty and funding public assistance programs…but that’s exactly what would happen if abortion were not legal.

R. Griffon

> Who knows if the person who would have found a cure for breast cancer
> or a better treatment wasn’t aborted? Or won’t be aborted in the future?

And so what if they were? Everything happens according to God’s plan, right? Riiiiight? So who are you to question God’s plan?

j

This is probably the dumbest comment of your arlnow career. And you say a lot of dumb crap.

MomOfTeens

By that argument, you could say “Who knows what would have happened if Adolph Hitler’s mother had had an abortion?”

nunya

+1

Swag

It’s a common misconception that Komen is “dedicated to eradicating breast cancer”–they’re not. They’re an awareness group. Their mission is to raise awareness of breast cancer–not to cure it. Simply put, curing breast cancer would be bad for business.

Put another way, they spend more on advocacy and fundraising each year than they do on research, screening and treatment combined. Plus $40.7M for administrative expenses.

Having said that, they’d be better off keeping the screening programs and cutting costs in research or treatment, since someone diagnosed with breast cancer is more likely to be a participant in their events and their families are more likely to be donors/supporters (i.e. it would be better for their bottom line).

Mario

Mission Statement

Promise The Susan G. Komen for the Cure promise: to save lives and end breast cancer forever by empowering people, ensuring quality of care for all and energizing science to find the cures.

I think they would gladly put themselves out of business.

Swag

If their mission statement says it, it must be true!

Mario

And because you read some numbers in their 10-Q you’ve decided they are making it all up and not committed to finding a cure! You must be right!

thecharlesriver

He’s always right. You didn’t know?

Swag

Mission statements are nothing but vague platitudes and marketing speak.

Nothing vague about millions of dollars spent on finding a cure. Kind of refutes your whole original trolling.

drax

EVERYBODY spends more money on fundraising. You have to spend money to make money, unfortunately.

Alot of advocacy could be getting Congress to cough up…research funds.

Josh S

If there was a cure for breast cancer tomorrow, then the Susan G Komen organization would turn on a dime into a “education and awareness” group for that cure, related treatments, support for past victims, etc.

They exist to exist.

Which is not to say that there probably aren’t some very sincere people who work there, they probably have made a positive difference in many people’s lives, etc.

But the degree of self promotion of that organization is a bit of a tip-off…they’re quite comfortable with the status quo……

Coleen

That is pretty sick.

Independent

I loathe this guy, but in this case he is on point.

+100

Louise

Nice statement, Moran.

KalashniKEV

As a Pro-Choice lover of breasts, I don’t get it… Planned Parenthood is a family planning organization. Susan G. Komen Foundation For The Cure is breast cancer organization.

Why is Komen giving any money to Planned Parenthood?

Louise

Kev, Planned Parenthood isn’t just family planning–it’s women’s health in general. Breast exams, which had been provided at Planned Parenthood clinics, are a key part of women’s health and the prevention of breast cancer. http://www.plannedparenthood.org/

Swag

What she said.

You’re getting caught up in their name, which may have been accurate when they were founded, but which no longer covers the full range of their services.

KalashniKEV

Well I suppose they should figure out a way to firewall the resources to provide those services if they expect any more free money from the $usan Komen Machine.

If Planned Parenthood’s focus is women’s health, then maybe they should de-politicize themselves and focus on health care, not abortion. But as their namesake so obviously implies planning when to be a parent, their sole focus is to facilitate abortion procedures. Susan G. Komen is a breast cancer awareness group. If they don’t want to fund Planned Parenthood, it’s their choice as a private, non-profit organization. It’s none of Jim Moran’s business or within his purview. Period.

thecharlesriver

When did liberal Democrats morph into the Thought Police?

Arlingtonian

Um, they do. It’s others who throw all the focus on their abortion services which makes up very little of the overall services they provide. No one wants to talk about all the education, counseling, and healthcare they provide, it’s the fact they also provide abortions.

R. Griffon

> But as their namesake so obviously implies planning when to
> be a parent, their sole focus is to facilitate abortion procedures.

Whoa there sport. That’s a HUUUGE (and completely erroneous leap of anti-logic). Planning when to be a parent (or to how many) does not in any way necessitate that you’re “sole focus is to facilitate abortion procedures.” You could do that a LOT more effectively by, oh I dunno … maybe EDUCATING PEOPLE on how NOT to get pregnant if you’re not ready to? Something that has been central to PP since they were founded.

When it comes to reproduction, they actually focus more on contraception and birth control than they do on abortion. But that doesn’t get nearly the air time since we (well, most of us) came out of the dark ages and realized that contraception is a no-brainier in a civilized society.

“Sole focus is to facilitate abortion procedures” indeed. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Josh S

I think the connection is far clearer in your own head than in the heads of those who run Planned Parenthood.

“sole focus”?

No.

I don’t think there is anyone who enjoys an abortion.

Psychopaths, perhaps.

common sense

a politician asking a private organization not to let politics enter into its decision making

thecharlesriver

I’m trying to remember when liberal Democrats stopped being liberal free-thinking people supportive of diversity of thought and opinion, and started to believe that they set the parameters of of all thought and opinion?

jinushaun

I hope you’re not so naive to think that only Democrats do this.

thecharlesriver

I’m hoping you’re not so dumb as to think you have enough information to make that kind of assumption about me.

thecharlesriver

And it’s particularly insulting when the people doing it are also people who fly under the banner of being open-minded.

jim

Was Moran sober when he released the statement?

Rob G

Is Moran ever sober?

TG3oA

When is Moran going to donate his salary to the local battered women’s shelter?

charlie

or the local boys & girls club so that 10 year olds are busy and don’t jack his car.

Arlingtonian

High five Moran

Rob G

When is Jim Moran going to stop using inside information to his own financial benefit?

Well done

This move by Komen in addition to the fact that they send cease and desist letters and/or sue other organizations who try to “[fill in the blank] for a cure” should make people think twice about the motives of this organization. There are plenty of other non-money grubbing charities out there to donate your money to and/or run your races for charity.

Swag

Komen isn’t a charity, it’s a non-profit.

Zoning Victim

They accept donations, which the donors can take off of their taxes as “charitable contributions”, and they use some of that money for screening programs for people who can’t afford them. That sure sounds like a charity to me.

TG3oA

They sued Hard Times when they held a “Fart for the cure” chili eating contest.

nunya

+10

Josh S

Are you serious?
Can’t tell if that’s real.

STee

Great example of this Member of Congress sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong. Private organizations can do what they wish.

bringmetheyuppies

As can private individuals. PP raised half a million dollars yesterday. I for one, from now on, will be telling the pink ladies thanks for reminding me to make a donation. Have to send that check to Planned Parenthood and by the way I hope your political position doesn’t let more people be less aware of breast cancer. YOU FRICKIN A HOLES!

jinushaun

As can private individuals. Public statement are just that, statements. During events like these, the press is always asking for statements from politicians and other public figures.

Charles Choice

Planned Parenthood should hold a walk for choice. My next Koman contribution goes to Planned Parenthood!

bringmetheyuppies

Here here, that’s what talks.

TG3oA

I’m donating to save the tatas

jinushaun

Walk for choice…? Probably not the best name and plays into the false belief that all PP does is offer abortions. It should be called a “walk for family health”.

Spiteful

It appears that the decision by the Susan G. Komen Foundation For The Cure has resulted in donations totaling $650K in the last 24 hours, not including a pledge by NYC Mayor Bloombergto personally donate $250K.

The founder, Margaret Sanger, wanted PP to eliminate certain races. That is the history of PP. Please read the history of PP before you start defending.

bringmetheyuppies

I dont care if it was started by Stalin. It’s mission now is pretty clear. Wanna know where the political parties we have now started?

drax

Genetic fallacy.

Arlington County is named after a slave plantation too.

R. Griffon

Always Right … except when you’re not. What she was for was for NOT allowing genetic faults to pass to future generations. The controversial part was that she thought people who had these traits (like the severely retarded) should be sterilized by the state. She was NEVER a proponent of killing people (a la Hitler), nor did she ever state any goals to “eliminate certain races” as you claim.

So either cite a source, or admit you’re spouting nonsense.

R. Griffon

Also, you live in a country that was founded by people who committed genocide against other races. So you be morally consistent (even though Margaret Sanger never did such a thing, much less endorse it), I’m assuming that you hate America to.

Right?

April

The founder of PP was also opposed to abortion, so if all you want to go on is the writings of the dead founder, that should reassure a lot of people right? One of the major founding purposes of PP was to prevent abortions by education and use of birth control.

While it is true that her writings show that she had some very offensive ideas, that was long ago, she has been dead for 50 years, her writings are often internally inconsistent, and they often had nothing to do with how she implemented PP.

Heck, George Washington, the father of our country, had some pretty offensive ideas too. Should we stop “defending” America for that reason?

yequalsy

Planned Parenthood does more to prevent abortions than any of the so-called pro-life organizations. And they’ve done far more for women’s health than the Komen Foundation can even pretend to do.

Banksy

+1 million

My mother died from breast cancer, and I detest the bullying corporate tactics of the SGK Foundation. Thanks to this boneheaded move by SGKF, many more people have had their eyes opened to the pinkwashing that SGKF engages in. I hope that people donate to other charities like Planned Parenthood, and I hope attendance at SGKF’s races/walks plummets.

Yell Fire

how is nova steve the first response??? When I last checked nunya was the first response then all of a sudden 15 minutes later novasteve is first. Arlnow where does your funding come from? Maybe we should do some investigating???

nunya

yeah, what yell fire said.

+∞ [alt 236]

novasteve

Because I wrote my post before the other one, it didn’t get approved until later. It still preserves the queue in which they were submitted. I’m so sorry you are so offended by post appears first. I realize I should be silenced since I don’t shrae your liberal views. A gulag perhaps?

drax

Yes, steve, he was suggesting that because your comment somehow ended up posted ahead of his, you should be silenced and sent to a gulag.

Do you ever get tired of being ridiculous?

novasteve

Why is he so upset that mine appears first then?

drax

I don’t know why he’s upset. I do know that the reason is NOT that he wants to censor you and throw you into a gulag. See how that works?

Bluemontsince1961

Maybe its me….I don’t share the views on many issues of most people in the ARLNow comments/forums (to say the least)…..but I’ve never felt that anyone trying to censor me or throw me in a gulag.

novasteve

Are you done throwing your hissy fit yet? I posted the first response. Is your tantrum over?

Vengeful

It appears that he never grows tired.

Bluemontsince1961

Shoot, do fish swim?

drax

Komen has said the decision was routine and not the least bit political.

From the article:
“But three sources with direct knowledge of the Komen decision-making process told me that the rule was adopted in order to create an excuse to cut off Planned Parenthood. (Komen gives out grants to roughly 2,000 organizations, and the new “no investigations” rule applies to only one so far.) The decision to create a rule that would cut funding to Planned Parenthood, according to these sources, was driven by the organization’s new senior vice president for public policy, Karen Handel, a former gubernatorial candidate from Georgia who is staunchly anti-abortion and who has said that since she is “pro-life, I do not support the mission of Planned Parenthood.” “

Coleen

That does not mean it is a politically driven decision. That just means she is pro-life and does not support Planned Parenthood.

That is a distinction without a difference as far as I am concerned. It is not political in the first place. Where Komen puts its money is completely up to them and plays no role in politics. It is about women’s health. They will fund just as many screenings next year as this year, it will just be through a list of organizations that does not include Planned Parenthood. That is the most important thing, would you not agree? Or does everything have to relate to a political fantasy scorecard?

drax

Just saying what Komen said, not saying I believe it.

thecharlesriver

As he types on a board FREE OF CHARGE. Gotta love the sense of entitlement around here.

mickey644

Now we know what Moron wears as a hat….DD! the fool doesn’t understand that the Koman organization funds breast examinations on its own and doesn’t need planned parenthood to do that. Also, what does planned parenthood have to do with breasts? I thought it was organized to discuss and promote planned parenthood?

April

PP has a great deal to do with breasts. Their primary function is women’s health care, and that includes breasts. They are not so much about discussing and promoting as they are about providing health care. I went to them a few years ago when I had a suspicious lump and no insurance. They were very helpful, their price was reasonable, and they gave me advice on the lump that ended up being 100% correct. I got a pap smear and some gyno advice while we were at it.

The way it worked was Koman funds, PP delivers. PP already works extensively with underserved women so they have the structure in place to do outreach and to provide medical care to these women. So Koman gives them a grant to do a specific program for breast health, such as clinical screening followed by referrals for free mammograms, or the mobile mammography unit. PP is already in these communities so they have the feet on the ground and the structure to make it happen. Well, that is at least how it used to happen.

MC

Sorry Katie, this doesn’t feel like a local story, anymore than if our local congressman issued a press release about the government in Burma. I don’t see the local angle: spending of out tax revenues being impacted, our rights as Virginians changing, access to our community services being affected or some event that Arlington is experiencing that other places are not. If you are going to report on a national story, you need to find more than a press release to provide a local angle.

Smilla

You must be new here.

ArlNow posts items about Moran all the time — on both local and national issues. Click on the Moran tag for a list — end of the Iraq War, federal debt ceiling, Libya. It’s relevant because he represents Arlington County and the topic is in the news. Of course it doesn’t hurt that posts about Moran and posts about abortion are likely to generate a lot of comments. Combine the two and, windfall!

Or are you objecting simply because you’re mad that so many people are supporting Moran’s position on this issue?

Jus’ saying

Oh! You mean Mr. Insider Stock Trading Moran?

dk

+1

novasteve

To those who say PP does more than provide ab ortion services, true, but that’s still its primary function. It’s kinda like saying Hamas provides social sservices to Palestinians, which it absolutely does, but it doesn’t take away from the fact it’s a terrorist organization committed to the destruction of Israel and killing innocents.

dk

In 2007, abortions represent 3 percent of total services provided by Planned Parenthood, and roughly 10 percent of its clients received an abortion.

No. PP was originally called the “American Birth Control League”, and if you wanted to choose one specific service that has always been their primary function, it is to enable women to have access to birth control. One of the founding principles of PP was to prevent the tragedy of deaths due to illegal and self induced abortions, and the founder was very much opposed to abortion. In providing contraception, however, they really had to provide complete gynecological care, so they have embraced more well-woman and family care.

Put it another way, realize this: there are lots of PP clinics; only a minority of them provide abortion services. However, all of them provide birth control.

novasteve

So I suppose those pink ribbon things will now no longer be politcally c orrect eh? What will be the new symbol?

“I call on the Foundation to reverse their decision and not let politics interfere with protecting women’s health.”

Hilarious ending. Politician asks private entity to not let politics (read: not his) interfere with their decision making process.

drax

Breaking news – Komen has reversed its decision.

Now everyone can be mad at them.

Moranic

Does Moran really thing that Komen’s decision will elimate “funding that provides hundreds of thousands of women with preventive screenings”, or will that funding be redirected to other organizations that do the same thing? Can we please give someone else a chance in this Congressional seat?

Bluemontsince1961

Well….someone is coming forward to try for his Congressional seat (and good luck to him:

And which “other organizations that do the same thing” would that be? While there may be small clinics here and there, there is no national organization that has the structure, the experience, and the existing relationships with the community that Planned Parenthood has. They can reach exactly those women who most need the breast health services provided by Komen.